St. Landry democrat., 1887-07-09
copyrighted. 1SS7.l

one ambitious of recognition in that line.
Generally speaking, no man can be hui
morlst who is not something else besides;
humor ought to be the delicate conception
OF homogeneous but pleasing things Who
ever can extract from weed a curious new
perfume for the toilet must be a delicate
chemist, and he who can find humor amidst
the truth and the facts of life should have
both a sensible and a kind nature.
The United States has perhaps excelled in
humOr more than in other literary forms p;
one nurturing place for it has been the news
paper offices, and especially the smaller and
more local newspapers. This often arises
from the society the ill-paid writer is thrown
into about and outside of his newspaper
desk.
ARENAS Ward was printer whose habits
became spoiled, and he found it hard to set
type and make any money. He was too much
about the alehouses and before the taverns
exchanging jokes to be pushing little types
into a frame; so he graduated at last a
humorist in newspaper which hardly made
$4,000 year for its proprietor.
His pieces were taken up and copied, and
speedily the whole land, which had just time
enough to read a short joke, began to be in
terested. He looked around for some way of
making living by his humor. No great
man in the government could do anything
tor him; to put humorist into public
office would be thought the destruction of
the state. Our government would neither
have poets, humorists nor any other de-
scription of men of native powers. 1t is the
rawest government in spite of it's size on the
face of the globe.
SO ARENAS Ward had to come to New
York, where some printer or jobber thought
there was money in him. They set up
comic paper and managed to pay salary
such as hundred men on newspapers now
receive, not enough to let him hold his own
amongst the innumerable loiterers who
wanted to make his acquaintance and oc
cupy his time. The comic paper soon ex-
PRED, and now Ward resolved to be show
man-to go through the country with
panorama and stand before it and exhibit
himself and his jokes at SO much head.
This was a degrading situation for man
who really was read with great appreciation
by his times, but there was no help forit.
Our country afforded no other sustenance for
man who might have become as grotesque
in our literature as Rabelais or Ceramics
So like Snowman ARENAS Ward drifted up
and down, forming no plans for the future
only wondering how he could get rich, and
so in another country than ours, where
there was some reward for humor and lit
erature, he passed away.
A more thrifty person was Josh Billings
He was an auctioneer in the country parts of
New York State, who had tried all sorts of
things and continued to bepoor He thought
he said humorous things and wise ones too,
but somehow nobody else could see them.
Observing ARENAS Ward to misspell all
his humorous articles Josh Billings under
took the same with one Of his.
Immediately it took wings and began to
fly over the land. He recognized the fact
that a man must have no spell in this coun-
try and act under its influence, but that he
can have misspell and grow well off.
Now, Josh Billings was really somewhat
profound person, with good deal of Benja-
min Franklin's happy faculty of saying
wise thing in quaint way. But they would
not pass unless they were misspelled There
was no sense whatever in his misspelling of
them. They were not misspelled in either
the negro, the Irish or the Yankee dialect;
it was nothing but arbitrary misspelling
without any metho.
When he obtained some currency he came
down to New York city to see the other
humorists and see if they would net take
him into their guild. ARENAS Ward received
him after his lecture with profuse compli-
ments and made an appointment with him
at booksellers. Josh waited there two or
three hours until he felt that he might be
kicked out and came away and saw ARENAS
Ward no more. 1t was the same with all
the rest of them; they were poor scratchers
stead of guineas.
So Josh Billings resolved to capitalize his
humor in the best way he could. He sold
himself to story paper at so much week,
prepared an almanac once year and lee
tured whenever he could get chance. In
that way he rolled up an income of perhaps
5000 year; and saved it and handed it
over to his wife and family.
saw him toward the last of his days ap-
pearing in the New York hotels, rather
lonely man whom hard work had somewhat
deprived of his power to be quaint and
original. He said to me that he wished he
had kept the funny papers he had written
in his youth and got nothing for them.
Said he every one of them is worth 800
now, but can't make them as I could
them"
This man. under better organized society,
would have been taken out of the mere
circus business of life and put to use and
have given more pleasure; and his collected
works would have some unity about them.
Another of our humorists was Sam Small,
who is now a revival orator. He is man Of
good sense and of good appearance; when
knew him first he was slender and finely
formed and would well become suit of full
dress.
He had been for while secretary to An
drew Johnson, and had some genius for pub
lie life But his habits were irregular, and
there was no steady occupation for him but
on the newspaper press. He commenced
the negro dialect articles which were after
ward taken up by young man in the same
Office with him, Mr.. Harris. Smalps arti-
cles were short, pungent and odd. When he
failed to furnish them modest young man
at one of the neighboring desks was asked
to continue them. This man possessed an
other quality very essential to q real humor-